The Hooded Nudibranchs are out at Edmonds!

[dphershman]

I went on a dive Saturday at Edmonds UW Park with my buddies Andy and Mark. On our return to shore we ran into large numbers of Hooded Nudibranchs Melibe leonina in the eel grass at about 12 feet in depth, north of the Jetty. Its fascinating to watch them as they open their hoods into the current catching small critters that are unfortunate enough to drift their way. Here's some photos--





this one was free swimming


More photos at http://www.hershmanphoto.com/Underwater ... 0280_TFQdH

[LCF]

There are literally hundreds of them -- we spent an entire dive in the eelgrass a couple of weeks ago, looking at them and the other critters who hide there.

[dphershman]

There are literally hundreds of them -- we spent an entire dive in the eelgrass a couple of weeks ago, looking at them and the other critters who hide there.

They can be quite distracting, especially when you find them at the end of an 80 minute dive and your buddy is signaling his desperate need to finish the dive (it's not the size of your tank, it's the size of your bladder!)

Dan

[Chenari]

Yeah they've shown up everywhere. We found several up at Keystone last week. And just yesterday dad and I went out to TTN and found a bunch. Found one with a bunch of spots.

I heard there was some discussion about what those spots might be. Call me kooky, but those spots on this Lion look a lot like eggs. Could that be what those spots are?

[dphershman]

I don't think they're eggs-- More likely some kind of variation on the overall coloration.

Here's one showing spots a bit clearer. most of the ones I got photos of had them to some degree.

[Chenari]

Take a close look at my photo. If you click on it and look at it in its actual size, those spots aren't solid. They're made up of dozens of tiny spots that look solid to me.

[dwashbur]

Dan,
Can you post a more zoomed-in version of your picture to see if the spots on yours are solid?

[elemar]

I saw one floating midwater (in about 15 ft) at the Alki Junkyard last night... Unfortunately I wasn't able to track down the rest of his friends, just the one loner:

[Jan K]

I heard there was some discussion about what those spots might be. Call me kooky, but those spots on this Lion look a lot like eggs. Could that be what those spots are?

Chenari, I don't think they are eggs. Here is Melibe laying their eggs, I am sure you saw them at Keystone, there they attach them to kelp, since there is no Eel grass ...

[Chenari]

Ohhh I see. I actually didn't find any egg ribbons like that, so there ya go, lol. So why do some Melibes have spots like that? Any ideas?

[Jan K]

Ohhh I see. I actually didn't find any egg ribbons like that, so there ya go, lol. So why do some Melibes have spots like that? Any ideas?

I did ask the experts few years ago why some do and some don't have the spots, nobody knew the answer.

[John Rawlings]

Gang tats....

[Chenari]

Is anyone conducting a study on the spotted Melibes? It'd be interesting to find out.